Adoption
by BladeGuy9
Summary: A look into Marceline and Ice King's past and how they know each other. Better explaination inside.


Adoption

By BladeGuy9

**Are you guys excited for the new AT episode as much as I am? I seriously can't wait for "I Remember You". It looks into Marcie and Ice King's past and how they know each other. But that's not why I'm writing this. I'm writing this because I managed to see the long preview of the episode, it's only aired once as far as I know and can't be found on the internet… yet. Anyway, in the long preview Marcie was picking up papers off her kitchen floor, probably dropped by Ice King. But, under the first few, there was a piece of paper with a picture of Marceline when she was young paper clipped to it. Which made me think… had Ice King adopted Marceline when he was still Simon? So I figured I'd write something up cause that's all I've been thinking about ever since I saw the preview. But if I'm right about this adoption thing, which I know I'm not, I will seriously freak out. Anyway, now that I'm done ranting, enjoy! Oh, before I forget, this fic is taking place after Simon found the crown and Betty left him, but long before he goes insane.**

**Adventure Time belongs to Pen Ward.**

* * *

It was a cold, winter day. The Great Mushroom War was still going, much to everyone's disappointment. The worst was over, but everyone stayed on their toes just in case someone dropped a bomb or something. But today was actually a peaceful day during war times. Everyone was inside, sitting next to loved ones by a warm fire, telling stories, making s'mores, drinking hot chocolate, or watching TV/movies. There was one girl; however, who was slowly trudging her way outside in the snow, trying to find shelter. The girl was but seven years old, had nothing on but an old tattered purple dress with one strap over her left shoulder keeping the dress in place. Under that is an old purple shirt. She also has a slightly ripped sock on her right foot, no sock on the other foot, and no shoes. The girl's skin was pale, she has short, raven black hair that reaches her neck, and she also has pointed ears. Small fangs are poking out of her mouth, and she is seen clutching an old stuffed bear close to her chest.

The small girl was going from door to door, asking to come in for some warmth. But they all ended the same way: every time someone saw her pointed ears and fangs, they quickly screaming in fighting and told her to go away. And after almost every house she was rejected by, the girl was on the verge of tears, but managed to keep them in. She was all alone. The poor girl was pretty much an orphan because her mom had died sometime in the beginning of the war, and her dad was long gone. She knew where he resided, but she would never dare go there, she hated where he was staying. She didn't have any friends because of her ears and fangs. Because of them, everyone automatically assumed she was going to tear them to shreds and feast on them. This saddened the girl even more. She did; however, manage to make one friend, and that friend is the stuffed bear clutched to her chest. The girl's mom had given the bear to her on her fourth birthday, a year before the war started. He was all she had left.

The girl and her bear kept trudging through the snow. A huge, cold gust of wind blew into her face, causing her to stop and shiver violently until it passes. Once passed, the girl looks down at her friend, who has snowflakes on him in various places. "D-D-D-Don't w-w-w-worry Ha-Ha-Ha-Hambo, I'll f-f-f-find us a w-w-w-warm p-p-p-place to s-s-s-stay," she stutters, talking to the stuffed toy as if he were real. The girl then falls over, landing in the soft, white snow. She hadn't eaten in days and was very low on energy. As she sits up, tears begin forming in her eyes, and she clutches the bear even tighter. "W-W-W-Why even b-b-b-bother f-f-f-finding a p-p-p-place to s-s-s-stay!" she stutters. "Everyone I c-c-c-come into contact w-w-w-with thinks I'm a m-m-m-monster! My m-m-m-mom is d-d-d-dead, and d-d-d-daddy is off doing b-b-b-business! I have n-n-n-no one!"

At this point, tears start pouring out of the girl's beady black eyes. The tears fall on the stuffed bear, or Hambo. The girl then falls over from hunger and exhaustion, and faints. Not long after she faints, a tall figure is walking toward her. The figure is bundled up in snow gear and has glasses, olive colored skin, dark colored hair, and beady white eyes. He slowly approaches the girl and kneels down before her. He notices the fresh tear streams from her eyes. "She's still alive, there's still hope," he mutters. The man scoops the girl up into his arms and is about to head off until he notices Hambo still on the ground. The man picks him up and gives him to the girl, who quickly takes him and clutching the bear to her chest. The man smiles and quickly rushes back to his house.

* * *

It is now nightfall and has been six hours since the man found the little girl out in the snow. He had bundled her up in a thick layer of blankets and put her down on his couch next to his fire place, which he is now putting more fire wood in to make the fire inside bigger. He is now seen in a dark suit with a red bow tie, what appears to be a black and yellow vest, and black shoes. He also appears to be around the age of thirty. Then, he walks over to his kitchen, where a turned on stove is seen with pot filled bubbling broth in it is sitting. He stirs the contents of the pot and then tastes it. He lets out a satisfied sigh. "Perfect," he mutters. He turns the stove off and grabs a bowl. He pours the soup into the bowl and grabs a fork for the noodles.

Then, a small moan comes from the couch. He turns around and sees the small girl coming to. She manages to sit up and free her arms, as well as Hambo, from the thick layer of blankets that were put on her. "Where… am I?" she asks.

The man approaches her with the bowl of soup and sets it down in front of her on the layer of blankets. "You're in my house," he tells her calmly. "I found you outside in the cold, fainted. So I brought you into my house, wrapped you up, set you by the fire, and made you some soup," he says, taking a seat in a sofa chair close to the couch.

The girl looks back and forth between the soup and the man. She is shocked to actually come across someone who actually took her in, warmed her up, and is now feeding her soup. "You… you saved me…" she says. The man nods. "And… you're feeding me?"

"Well of course. Why wouldn't I? You were on the brink of death," says the man.

The girl looks down, pulling Hambo close to her. "Well… it's just… I'm a demon, and now one would take me in…" tears begin forming in the girl's eyes.

The man lets out a small gasp, heart broken by what she had said. "That's horrible! Just because you're a demon doesn't mean they should turn you down! You're so young, you can't possibly do any damage," he says, leaning over to her and putting a hand on her shoulder. The girl looks up at him and smiles a small fanged smile, wiping the tears from her eyes. "I'm Simon, by the way. Simon Petrikov."

"I'm Marceline… Marceline Abadeer," the girl replies. She then grabs her stuffed bear and shows it to Simon. "And this is Hambo, my best friend."

"It's nice to meet both of you," he says, smiling. "Now come on, eat your soup. I imagine you are starving." Marceline nods and picks up the fork, eating the noodles in the soup at a fast pace. She didn't care if she was getting burned, she was just glad to finally get something in her system. Simon watches as the young demon devours the soup. 'This poor thing must not have eaten for days. To think there are cruel people out there who actually ignored this young one's cry for help,' Simon thinks to himself.

Marceline finishes the noodles, leaving only the broth. She brings the broth filled bowl to her lips and downs that as well. Once the bowl is empty, she lets out a loud, relieved sigh. The young demon turns to the human. "Thank you for taking me in; I'm glad someone actually cares for my well being."

Simon looks at her with a weird look. "Wh…what do you mean? What about your parents? Don't they care for you?"

Marceline looks down at the empty bowl. "…my mom died when the war started, and my dad took off to a place called the Night O'sphere, a fiery realm filled with demons, a place I want to stay from. So I honestly don't know what my dad thinks about me," she says.

"Oh…" says Simon, taking in her words. "I'm… I'm sorry to hear that…"

Marceline sighs, looking around the room. She then spots a room filled with many kinds of ancient artifacts. "What's in there?" she asks, pointing in the room.

Simon looks at the room and smiles. "That, young lady, is all the valuable ancient artifacts I've collected. For you see, I am an antiquarian."

Marceline tilts her head to the left in confusion. "Anti-what-ian?" she asks.

Simon chuckles. "Anti_quar_ian," he says. "An antiquarian is someone who collects ancient artifacts and studies them. Would you like to see what I have dug up so far?"

Marceline smiles and gets herself out of the blankets. Simon gets up and walks toward the room, Marceline, and Hambo, following behind. Inside the room, Marceline sees tones of ancient swords, skulls, shields, masks, and much more all contained within glass cases. Simon begins showing Marceline some masks that were said to be carved human skulls so jungle tribes could wear them to look more menacing. He then moves onto swords used by gladiators and how there are ancient markings on them, wondering if they hold any magical abilities or something. Marceline is giving him her full attention, her beady black eyes sparkling with amazement. Simon is about to show her some shields he found interesting, but as they walk around the room, Marceline spots something sitting high on a pedestal. A yellow crown with three red gems is what she sees.

"Um… Mr. Petrikov, what's that up there?" the young demon asks, pointing to the crown.

Simon stops and turns around, seeing the crown. "Oh… well… this is something I'm still trying to crack. But… this thing has ruined me…" he says, walking over to it and staring down at it with a glare.

"What do you mean?" Marceline asks.

Simon sighs. "Long before I came into contact with the crown, I was engaged to my fiancé, Betty. Oh Betty, such a lovely girl. She ment everything to me, she was my princess. We were set to marry before the war started. I was in a place called Scandinavia a month before Betty and I would be married. I was there to find any ancient artifacts to study one. As I was about to board my boat home, I was confronted by an old dock worker. He has heard about me and said he would like me to study that crown," he explains, pointing at the crown. "Now, my trip had been a bit sad because I was unable to find anything. So, I happily accepted the crown. I was somehow drawn to it when he gave it to me, I'm not quite sure why. So, I got on the boat with the crown, and once I got back home, I quickly rushed back to my house to show Betty. She too was fascinated by the crown, and asked if I would put it on for her, just for a laugh. I agreed, and that's when I made my mistake. I put the crown on, and she said I look like a king. However, I was unable to respond. I was seeing visions. Voices. I was yelling at them trying to escape, so I quickly took off the crown, causing me to come back to my senses. Before me stood Betty, looking at me with such contempt. I had no idea what I had done while I was wearing the crown. But… it has ruined me… because after I took the crown off… I never saw Betty again…" Simon's eyes begin filling with tears. He takes his glasses off and begins crying; muttering how he wishes Betty would come back.

Marceline looks up at Simon; she was moved by his story. A tear forms in her left eye and she wipes it away. "Mr. Petrikov?"

Simon wipes some of the tears away and kneels down to Marceline's height. "Yes?"

Marceline stretches her hand out and wipes leftover tears from Simon's eyes. "It wasn't your fault, you had no idea what the crown was capable of. Don't beat yourself up about it, you'll find her again, some day," she assures him.

Simon looks down at the young demon girl. What she had said could quite possibly be true. Simon puts his glasses back on, smiling down at the young demon girl. He then picks her up and gives her a hug. "Oh Marceline, you're like the daughter Betty and I wanted to have."

Marceline was touched by Simon's words. She then wraps her arms around his neck and returns the hug. "And you're like the father I've always wanted. Cares about me, takes care of me like a real daddy should."

Simon comes out of the hug and holds her up to his face. "What do you mean?"

"My daddy was barely around, mom was always the one who cared for me and took care of me. She didn't make me feel like I was a monster, she made me feel normal."

Simon thinks for a moment, a small smile on his face. "Marceline, have you ever heard of adoption?"

The young demon raises a brow in confusion.

* * *

The next day, Simon and Marceline are seen walking out of a small building. In Simon's hands are papers, adoption papers to be exact. On the first page was some information Marceline managed to give about her mother and father, and a bunch of other junk. Paper clipped to the paper is a picture of Marceline. "As of right now, you are officially my daughter," says Simon, looking down at Marceline with a smile on his face.

Marceline smiles back and hugs his leg. "Thank you for adopting me. I thought I'd have to wonder around the world for the rest of my life."

"It's my pleasure, sweetie," Simon says, picking her up as they head back home.

Along the way, Marceline wraps her arms around Simon's neck. "I love you… daddy."

Simon smiles down at her, hugging her. "I love you too, sweetie."

* * *

**Well, there you have it, Marcie and Ice King meeting for the first time. I figure by the time Simon loses his sanity, Marceline was starting to get scared and left one night without him knowing. And I figure she's about the age she was when Hunson Abadeer ate her fries. But, this was a fun little fic to write, definitely something new to me. I think it turned out well. Also, I do plan on bringing back Revenge of the King, but I want to work on a big fic I've been planning for a long time first. But rest assured, I do have big things planned in the future. I hope you all enjoyed!**


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